BHS football caps summer with Oceanside team trip

Tuesday

Jul 22, 2014 at 6:00 AM

OCEANSIDE — The Burroughs football team ended a successful passing league season with a strong performance. The Burros finished undefeated in pool play and advanced to the quarterfinals of the North County Passing Tournament last weekend at El Camino High, the highlight of their annual team trip that featured on-field success and bonding outside the lines.

By Anthony GentileSPORTS EDITORagentile@ridgecrestca.com

OCEANSIDE — The Burroughs football team ended a successful passing league season with a strong performance. The Burros finished undefeated in pool play and advanced to the quarterfinals of the North County Passing Tournament last weekend at El Camino High, the highlight of their annual team trip that featured on-field success and bonding outside the lines.“Weekendwise I was very encouraged — we scored a ton of points,” Burros head coach Todd Mather said. “In some of our new pass route concepts, the kids are starting to show that when they have the spacing right, they stem off the line correctly and push it to the proper depth, it’s tough to cover — the kids bought in and they’re encouraged that it worked.”Burroughs won its first four games at the tournament to set up a quarterfinal matchup with a familiar opponent on Saturday morning. Against Palmdale, the Burros couldn’t recover from a slow start en route to a 33-20 defeat that ended eliminated them from the bracket.Three drives into the game, Burroughs trailed Palmdale 13-0. The Burros went four-and-out to start the game, and the Falcons opened with a score then intercepted BHS quarterback Hayden Sonnenberg on the next possession for a touchdown that quickly made it a two-score game.Sonnenberg and the Burros’ offense responded with a methodical drive capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass Zach Newbury — his first of three in the game — to make the score 13-6. On the last possession of the first half, Palmdale scored on a long touchdown pass to take a 20-6 lead into the break.The Falcons started the second half with the ball, and marched down the field for a touchdown that gave them a 20-point advantage. Burroughs went four-and-out on its next possession — then began its comeback.Kyle Cornell picked off Palmdale at the goal line on the next drive — a one-handed interception — and Sonnenberg connected with Newbury for a 38-yard score to make the score 26-12. Linebacker Matthew Sevaaetasi then intercepted a pass over the middle, and Sonnenberg found Newbury for a 27-yard touchdown — the ensuing two-point conversion cut Palmdale’s lead to 26-20.After a pair of big stops, Burroughs’ defense couldn’t come up with a third straight to keep the game within a possession. Palmdale drove the ball and scored on a 1-yard touchdown pass in the closing minutes, a score that sealed defeat for the Burros.“We get so anxious against Palmdale — they want to beat them so bad that they come out and get so anxious,” Mather said. “We’re going to have to reel that in before we play them in the first game of the season.” Burroughs opens its 2014 season at Palmdale on Aug. 29, and Saturday’s matchup was the second time the teams have met during the summer. The Burros have lost to the Falcons to kick off each of the past two seasons. “I think we match up with them well — their running back looks small and we’ll be able to hit some stuff on their defense,” Mather said. “They have a great tight end and a stud wide receiver, but their quarterback held the ball for a long time and had trouble finding the right guys — I’m thinking we can put some pressure on them.”Sonnenberg took all of the snaps against Palmdale with fellow quarterback Austin McCullough unable to play due to injury. Sonnenberg started each of the five games during the weekend, and primarily split time with McCullough until the finale. In the first round of bracket play on Saturday, Burroughs overcame a flat start to beat 15th-seeded Mountain View (El Monte). Both teams were tied after the first four possessions before the Burros pulled away. Mountain View lined up in the Wing-T offensively, and presented a unique passing league challenge for Burroughs. The Vikings ran the ball nine times against the Burros — far more rushing attempts than is typical for a 7-on-7 contest — and called runs on the first two plays of the game.“Some teams will run one draw in a game, but it was like they were running normal running plays — there was no selling the draw and they were lined up in a Wing-T set,” Mather said. “We decided to man up and not let their tight end off the line — linebackers had the backs on their sides and we were jumping the backs’ routes early.” In pool play on Friday, Burroughs went 3-0 with convincing victories over Paloma Valley (Menifee) along with ‘B’ teams from El Camino (Oceanside) and St. Augustine (San Diego) to earn the second-seed in the tournament’s 15-team bracket. Each of the Burros’ wins on Friday came by multiple scores. “We were on fire that day — we executed and we were hot,” Mather said. “The defense played tough and the offense was catching balls and running good routes.”In its first game at the tournament, Burroughs shook off the effects of a lengthy car trip to pull away from Paloma Valley in the second half. Receivers Cornell, Newbury, Tommy Hope, Mekhi Ayers and Brandon Tate all found the end zone against the Wildcats — the Burros scored touchdowns on their last seven offensive possessions of the game.Against El Camino’s ‘B’ team, Burroughs started fast and rolled to victory. Defensive back Michael McKinney had an interception against the Wildcats, one of his three on the weekend. “We jumped on them from the start and got all over them right away — it wasn’t really close the whole game,” Mather said. “They were more of a running, play-action team and we did a good job covering the backs out of the backfield.” Multiple different receivers scored touchdowns for the Burros in their win over the tournament hosts. A diverse offensive attack was a theme for Burroughs throughout its tournament games.Burroughs capped pool play with a five-touchdown victory over St. Augustine’s ‘B’ team. Noah Unhassobiscay saw action at quarterback in the second half of the Burros’ victory that put them atop their pool.The Burros finished 7-on-7 play with an 11-5-1 overall record. Burroughs’ 4-1 weekend at the North County Passing Tournament punctuated a solid summer — Mather said BHS’ team speed was a big reason for its success. “We’ve never scored this many touchdowns and we’ve never been this successful in passing league,” Mather said. “It’s a great way to finish and it’s helped the kids become believers in the system — that we’re doing the right thing and it works. They were excited about the weekend.”

Burroughs’ linemen battle at Oceanside High On Saturday, Burroughs’ linemen participated in the Battle by the Beach at Oceanside High. The Burros eight-man contingent finished eighth out of 14 teams — and won the 400-meter relay race and squat competition. “It was encouraging because we always wonder if we’re doing enough in the weight room, and we don’t have anything to compare it to,” Mather said. “We don’t put heavy weight on the bar, and we work on the speed and explosion part of the game — that’s what that competition was about.”In the 400 relay, each lineman had to complete a lap around the track. Because Burroughs had eight linemen instead of 10, its winning effort featured two legs apiece from seniors Michael Stanciu and John Hicks.Burroughs won the squat competition with a handful of standout performances — in that event, participants had to complete as many repetitions as possible in the span of a minute. BHS junior Jacob Trigg completed 40 squats, Stanciu turned in 35 and senior Austin Groshens finished with 34.

Burros’ team trip marked by bonding, funBurroughs’ weekend in the San Diego area doubled as its annual team trip. In addition to the varsity players, the varsity, junior varsity and freshman coaching staffs made the trip along with team managers, water girls and a number of parents. “It was a great trip — we went there to get work done but we also wanted to use it as a team bonding trip,” Mather said. “We have a lot of support for our program, and it was great to see that many people there.”The team stayed on Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton during the weekend, which included multiple trips to the beach a team barbecue on Saturday night at Lake O’Neill. After a tri-tip dinner, the Burros listened to BHS alum Chad Stoner speak on leadership before members of the team showed off their acting skills around a bonfire. “They morphed it from a singing competition into skits imitating coaches — it was hilarious,” Mather said. “Each room would come out, and each one of them would play a different one of us — the parents were dying and we were laughing.”Mather said Ayers’ imitation of coach Darrell Eddins during pre-game stretches was the best of the evening. Lineman Edward Murph received honorable mention for his imitation of coach Rance Pippin’s meticulous sunscreen application practices.The team drove back to Ridgecrest on Sunday, and made a stop at Dave and Busters in Ontario on the way home. The competition between players and coaches included NASCAR racing and shooting hoops.